How to read this: these lines track how the company manages day-to-day cash. Debtor days is how long customers take to pay; inventory days is how long stock sits before selling; days payable is how long the company takes to pay its own suppliers. Fewer debtor and inventory days generally means cash comes in faster; more days payable means the company holds its cash longer. The right level varies a lot by industry, so the trend over time matters more than any single number.
How to read this: return on capital employed (ROCE) shows how much operating profit the company earns from every unit of capital it uses, as a percentage. A higher, steady line over the years suggests the business uses its capital efficiently. As with most ratios, the multi-year trend tells you more than any single year.
| Period | Debtor Days | Inventory Days | Days Payable | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 167 | 512 | 448 | 231 | -67 | 14 |
| FY2016 | 80 | 586 | 380 | 286 | -14 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 66 | — | — | 66 | -8 | 18 |
| FY2018 | 53 | 336 | 252 | 137 | 13 | 18 |
| FY2019 | 45 | 341 | 237 | 149 | 23 | 17 |
| FY2020 | 44 | 345 | 216 | 173 | 13 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 42 | 381 | 260 | 163 | 23 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 37 | 378 | 249 | 165 | 84 | 3 |
| FY2023 | 48 | 280 | 254 | 74 | 42 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 39 | 272 | 226 | 85 | 44 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 46 | 294 | 237 | 103 | 65 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 67 | 474 | 355 | 187 | 122 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.